Toss them until they are well covered with the spices. Put a large sauté pan on the stove and get it hot on high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and let the oil heat up as well. Lay the chicken thighs in the pan and brown, cooking about two minutes on each side. (You may have to do more than one pan full.) Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Sauté

1 medium onion, diced (optional)

until it is translucent. Set aside in a small bowl and turn off the heat. Add

to the sauté pan and stir to pick up the oil and the flavors. Stir in the onions, if you're using them, and spread the rice mixture in a large baking dish (it needs to be large to hold all the chicken broth). Slowly pour

6 cups chicken stock

over the rice and stir gently to mix. Lay the chicken thighs on top so that they cover the rice completely. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375°F for 40-45 minutes. (If you don’t want as much rice, reduce the rice by a cup and the broth by two cups.)

I went to the Durham Farmer's Market yesterday afternoon and found this awesome purple cauliflower, among other cool things. I decided to come home and make dinner out of it. Here's what I came up with:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour, stirring constantly with a whisk for 2 minutes. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and whisk until it comes to a soft boil. Add the pepper, nutmeg, mustard, and salt and keep whisking until it gets thick. Turn the burner to low and add

3/4 cup grated cheddar3.4 cup grated swiss cheese

Pour a third of the sauce on the bottom of a rectangular baking dish. Put the cauliflower on top of the sauce and then add the rest of the sauce to cover the cauliflower. Put

Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta. If you are using dry pasta, it will take longer to cook than fresh. Time it so the pasta finishes with the chicken and the alfredo sauce.

Put the chicken strips in a bowl and toss with the two seasonings. I use equal parts of both. We like it hot, so I use a good bit. Experiment to your own taste. You can also add more as you are cooking.

Get a saute pan good and hot and then add olive oil. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken and cook until they are cooked through and a little crispy.

Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl. Pour alfredo sauce over pasta and toss. Put pasta on the plate and the chicken on top. Open a nice bottle of wine and feel the love.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the cream, stirring well. Cook until cream is simmering, but not boiling. Take some time here. The longer it cooks, the more the naturally thickens. Keep stirring. Add cheeses and cook some more until the cheese is melted and well integrated into the sauce. When you add the salt and pepper, go slowly with the salt because the cheese has some already. You can also add other flavors -- garlic, cajun seasoning -- to your liking. If you don't want flecks in the sauce, use white pepper.